Device and method for singulating from a holder with liquid and/or individualizing of fruits

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a device and method for singulating from a holder with liquid and/or individualizing of products, such as fruits, wherein the device comprises: a discharge conveyor extending above the liquid level in the holder for discharging the products in rows; and a feed conveyor of V-shaped cross-section, the discharge end of which connects onto a front end of the discharge conveyor and which extends at an inclination from this front end to below the liquid level in the liquid holder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Vulnerable products, such as fruits, in relatively large crates are inpractice usually emptied into a holder with liquid, usually water, fromwhere the fruits must be transferred to a sorting device for sorting tosize (or weight, quality and the like). The fruits are carried using awater flow to a discharge conveyor for discharging the fruits from theliquid container, wherein the discharge conveyor is for instance anendless conveyor with diabolo-shaped receiving elements for the fruits.

An example of a known device is described in the European patentapplication EP-A-0 635 443, wherein the fruits are transferred from awater channel to a discharge conveyor using tubes. The capacity andutilization of this tubular transfer device is insufficient, while thereis a considerable risk of damage to the vulnerable fruits.

From the U.S. Pat. No. 2,831,518 is known a device wherein tomatoes areskinned and wherein a conveyor extends below a liquid surface in aliquid holder.

A conveyor of V-shaped cross-section for reorienting a fruit or avegetable along a determined axis is further known from the U.S. Pat.No. 5,121,635, wherein there is however no liquid holder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has for its object to improve the known device andprovides a device for singulating from a holder with liquid and/orindividualizing of products, such as fruits, wherein the devicecomprises:

a discharge conveyor extending above the liquid level in the holder fordischarging the products in rows; and

a feed conveyor of V-shaped cross-section, the discharge end of whichconnects onto a front end of the discharge conveyor and which extends atan inclination from this front end to below the liquid level in theliquid holder.

Because the V-shaped feed conveyor extends partially under water, thefruits are urged by the water flow into the tracks until the V-shapedconveyor, which can be driven at relatively high speed, engages on thefruits and transports them, preferably up against a rotatable brushroller placed above the transition between the feed conveyor of V-shapedcross-section and the discharge conveyor.

Since it has been found in experiments that the conveyor of V-shapedcross-section must be precisely positioned relative to the liquid level,both ends of the feed conveyor are preferably height-adjustable, as isthe front end of the discharge conveyor connecting onto the feedconveyor.

The liquid level is determined inter alia by the force of circulationmeans for the liquid, such as a pump. For a more accurate adjustment ofthe liquid flow to the setting of the feed conveyor, a pivotal plate ispreferably situated at some distance from this liquid level, which plateinfluences the volume of the liquid flow to a greater or lesser degreeand thus the speed at which the fruit is supplied. The liquid level isdetermined inter alia by the force of the circulation means, the numberof fruits in the channel and the degree of wave action in the liquidbath.

In order to prevent the possibility of fruits flowing to the V-shapedconveyor becoming snagged, the conveyor belts of the V-shaped conveyorpreferably have a different speed so that the fruits are rotatedslightly and are carried successively into a track.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages, features and details of the present invention willbe elucidated on the basis of the following description of a preferredembodiment thereof with reference to the annexed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a view in perspective a (part of a) first preferredembodiment of a device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a front view of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the top view of a further preferred embodiment of a deviceaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a side view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In a preferred embodiment 10 of a device according to the presentinvention fruits F are supplied by a water flow, the direction of whichis designated with arrow A. In the present embodiment two tracks for thefruits F are shown, while it is noted that it will be apparent that alarger number of tracks is possible in another embodiment.

In the present embodiment the fruits F are discharged in the directionof arrow B on a discharge conveyor 12 provided with diabolo-shapedelements 11. The diabolo-shaped elements arranged on rods 13 form anendless conveyor which is driven in a manner not further shown close toone or both reversing wheels.

From the front end of discharge conveyor 12 a number of conveyor belts14, 15, 16 and 17 extend slightly downward to below the level of theliquid on which fruits F float and are supplied in the direction ofarrow A. Conveyor belts 14 and 15 together form a conveyor of V-shapedcross-section, as do the obliquely disposed conveyor belts 16 and 17,whereby two feed tracks are formed.

Since at least a part of conveyor belts 14-17 is situated under water,the conveyor belts and drives therefore must be embodied inmoisture-proof material such as rubber and stainless steel.

It has been found from tests that transporting of the fruits from theliquid holder with the conveyor of V-shaped cross-section works so wellthat this feed conveyor can extend outside the liquid holder, whereby adischarge conveyor also extending partially under water, in any case inthe return part, can be omitted. The fruits are thus carried directlyout of the holder onto a singulating device above which a brush rolleris arranged in order to ensure a good transfer of the possiblyvulnerable fruits.

Preferably arranged on either side of each pair of obliquely disposedconveyor belts 14, 15 respectively 16, 17 are wheels 20, 21, 22, 23, 24and 25 which are provided with fingers and rotatable in the direction ofarrow C, which wheels dose the fruits into the tracks at the desiredrate.

In the shown preferred embodiment of the device according to the presentinvention the fruits are carried along by the liquid flow produced usinga pump (not shown). The fruits are dosed by finger wheels 20-25 into thespace of substantially V-shaped cross-section which is bounded in eachcase by the two endless conveyor belts 14, 15 respectively 16, 17,wherein the fruits are engaged by the conveyor belts, for instancehalfway along depending on the size thereof, and are transported upagainst a rotatable stop such as a brush roller 30 which is rotatable inthe direction of arrow D and placed above the transition between endlessconveyor belts 14-17 and discharge conveyor 12. In the device shown inFIG. 1 the left and right-hand conveyor belt of the conveyor of V-shapedcross-section have a different speed in that rollers thereof have adifferent diameter. The fruits are hereby rotated and singulated in thetracks. In addition, the inclination of the conveyor of V-shapedcross-section changes from (practically) planar to V-shaped so as toengage the fruits in suitable manner and to cause the fruits to flow aswell as possible. The fruits are transported by the obliquely disposedconveyor belts 14-17 at desired speed as far as brush roller 13. Therotating brush acts to bring the fruits to the speed suitable for thedischarge conveyor.

Since in a practical embodiment the liquid flow produced by acirculation pump will have a force such that the liquid level will notbe exactly horizontal because it rises on one side, it is important forcorrect operation of the device that conveyor belts 14-17 are preciselyadjustable relative to this liquid level; for this purpose both thefront and rear ends are preferably height-adjustable, while for correctconnection onto the rear end the front end of discharge conveyor 12preferably also takes a height-adjustable form.

For precise adjustment of the desired liquid flow, which can likewisetake place by means of adjusting the force of the circulation means, aplate 32 is preferably arranged at some distance below the liquid level,which plate extends transversely over a considerable part of the widthof the liquid holder (not shown) or the liquid channel and which isadjustable round a shaft 33 in the direction of double arrow E to aposition holding back the return flow to a greater or lesser extent, sothat the force of the liquid flow as well as the height of the liquidlevel at the location of the obliquely disposed conveyor belts 14-17 canthus be adjusted more precisely. The quantity of water above and belowthe conveyor of V-shaped cross-section is adjusted by rotating plate 32.

In the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 the fruits F areurged from a water channel 41 to a conveyor 42 of substantially V-shapedcross-section which extends from below the liquid level to above thislevel and transports the fruits substantially horizontally from abouthalfway along liquid holder 43 to a singulating device 44 to which thefruits are transferred and wherein the fruits are received by a brushroller 45 arranged above the transition. The thus singulated fruits aresubsequently sorted in the usual manner to weight, quality, colour andthe like. The embodiment according to FIGS. 3 and 4 has of course theadvantage that the elevator or discharge conveyor of FIGS. 1 and 2, ofwhich in any case the return part extends under water, can be omitted.

The present invention is not limited to the above described preferredembodiment; the rights sought are defined by the following claims,within the scope of which many modifications can be envisaged.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device adapted for separating products from aplurality of products placed within a holder with a liquid in which theproducts are held, said device comprising a discharge conveyor extendingabove the liquid level of the holder and adapted for discharging theproducts in rows therefrom; and a feed conveyor having at leastpartially V-shaped arms extending transvexels therefrom and having adischarge end which connects onto a front end of the discharge conveyor,the feed conveyor extending at a declination from the front end of thedischarge conveyor to below the liquid level in the liquid holder andthe V-shaped arms thereof receiving the products therebetween for movingthe products in a coherent fashion toward the discharge conveyor.
 2. Thedevice of claim 1, further comprising a stop placed above the transitionbetween the feed conveyor and the discharge conveyor.
 3. The device ofclaim 1, wherein the feed conveyor is formed by conveyor belts or ropesplaced obliquely relative to each other.
 4. The device of claim 3,wherein the conveyor belts have an adjustable differing or equal speedrelative to each other.
 5. The device of claim 4, wherein the conveyorbelts have drive rollers of differing diameters.
 6. The device of claim1, wherein the inclining position of the feed conveyor is adjustablerelative to the liquid level within the holder.
 7. The device of claim1, wherein rotatable fingers or brushes are placed on either side of thefeed conveyor to dose the products to the desired extent to theassociated feed conveyor.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the positionof the discharge conveyor is adjustable relative to the liquid levelwithin the holder.
 9. The device of claim 1, wherein the feed conveyorextends beyond the liquid holder and the discharge conveyor connectsonto the feed conveyor outside of the liquid holder.
 10. The device ofclaim 2, wherein the stop comprises a brush roller.
 11. A method ofseparating products from a holder with a liquid in which a plurality ofproducts is held, said method comprising: positioning a feed conveyor atan inclined angle with respect to the liquid level in the holder so thata first end of the feed conveyor is received within the holder and belowthe liquid level therein and a discharge end of the feed conveyor ispositioned above the liquid level; moving the products with a pair ofV-shaped arms adapted to engage the products and move them toward thedischarge end of the feed conveyor; and passing the products from thedischarge end of the feed conveyor onto a discharge conveyor spacedabove the liquid level of the holder.
 12. A device adapted to separateproducts from a holder with a liquid in which the plurality of productsis held, said device comprising: an elongate feed conveyor positioned atan angle with respect to the liquid level in the holder, a first end ofthe feed conveyor being received within the holder and below the liquidlevel therein and a discharge end of the feed conveyor being positionedabove the liquid level, the feed conveyor having a pair of V-shaped armssized and shaped to engage the products and for carrying the productstherein toward the discharge end thereof; and a discharge conveyorspaced above the liquid level of the holder for conveying the productspassed from the feed conveyor, the discharge conveyor having a first endpositioned with respect to the discharge end of the feed conveyor forreceiving the products thereon.